The Company of a ShapeShifter
by EphesusX
Summary: Draco and Hermione get trapped together while Voldemort holds Draco's father captive somewhere - will this inconvenience create a bond between them? My second Dramoine... :
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

The Company of a Shape-Shifter

Chapter 1

It was all coincidence when Hermione decided to take a jog one morning outside Hogwarts. She wore her comfortable blue tracksuit and plain white sneakers and headed out of the castle at 5am. It was still quite dark outside because it was still winter that side of the world. Nobody but Filch had seen her exiting the castle and since she baked him cookies every now and then and was practically the only person who bothered to be nice to him, he pretended not to notice her sneaking out every morning.

She grinned to herself at her silly little victory. She'd been getting away with it for about 2 weeks now and she wondered how long it would take for him to snap or for someone else to notice her. Slowly she started jogging past the Hogwarts school grounds to the spot where she always used to jog – right by the lake. She enjoyed the chirps of the birds surrounding her and noticed a flock of birds that flew past her in a hurry. Not thinking much about it she continued jogging and started advancing her pace, eventually running as she watched the sunrise on her left.

Another horde of birds came flying past at an immense rate, one flying so low and knocked her straight to the ground. Hermione fell with a sudden thud and looked down at the bird. It was small and gray with a little black ring around its beak and neck, it was huffing, and puffing with its eyes closed, clearly shaken. Hermione gasped. "Sorry little one..." she said in a low and gentle whisper and she picked it up delicately and carried it back to the castle. The bird wasn't moving much except for its fast and heavy breathing.

As she got inside the castle, she closed the door behind her.

"Sneaking out late to visit some muggle boyfriend, Mudblood?" a cruel and familiar voice came sharp and loud through the stillness of the morning and pierced Hermione's ears like thunder. "Shhh you moron!" she said in a loud whisper as she turned to look at Draco Malfoy standing with his hands folded across his chest. It took him a few seconds to realise that Hermione was holding a little bird in her hand that resembled a swallow. "What are you doing with _that_?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "First I'm going to snap his legs off and use them for a voodoo spell, and then I'm going to use the rest of him in a potion I've been planning to make to take wrinkles away." Draco's eyes widened as his jaw fell open. "I'm not serious you git! Now get out of my way, I need to get this poor thing a place to recover." She pushed past Draco who seemed to lower his guard a bit, not standing as stiffly with his arms folded anymore.

"Wait!" he cried loudly, his voice echoing. "Shut _up_!" Hermione said in a loud whisper again. "Is that an Oriental Pratincole?" Hermione frowned, extremely confused. "A what?" Draco walked up to her impatiently and held out his hand. "I know what to do, give the bird to me." "Like hell, I'll give the bird to you!" "Trust me." He said. Hermione almost choked on her own saliva when she cried "Ha!" at him. "Look, I'm serious - my mother used to look after these when I was a kid, it was sort of a hobby of hers. Oriental Prantincoles are almost extinct and I know how to help one that's knocked out."

It took Hermione a second to consider it. She had never seen Draco so... compassionate about anything, but she knew it could be a trick because he hated her so much. He'd probably pull a fast one on her and cast a cruciatus spell on the poor thing, just to show off.

"No." She said as she eyed him angrily. She turned her back on him and walked towards the stairs. "I'll give you my wand as a surety that I won't hurt the bird." He said desperately. Hermione turned back and looked at him suspiciously. "Malfoy it's just a bloody bird, let me sort it out, will you?" Draco sighed as if giving up. "It's not just a bird Granger - It's a shape-shifter." He said. She looked down at the bird, examining it from top to bottom. It seemed like a normal bird to her. "Those birds are extinct and only shape-shifters can change into them. Not even if you try to transfigure yourself or use polyjuice potion, can you turn into one of those."

Eventually Hermione walked back to Draco. She decided that if she had his wand he couldn't do anything to the bird that she couldn't fix. "Alright I'll bite. Wand please?"

- Did you like it? Review and let me know if you have any ideas in mind. This came to me completely randomly as I sat at work. Have an awesome week everyone! New update should be up in the next week or so. xoxox -


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 2

"If this is some sort of trick Draco I swear-" "Oh shut up mudblood, I have better things to do in my time." Hermione kept quiet for the rest of the way up the stairs. Eventually Draco stopped next to a small canvas next to the Gryffindor painting of the fat lady; it wasn't one she'd noticed before really. The picture was of a short, balding man who sat on a big red throne looking bored. "Russet skin." Draco said and looked at Hermione out of the corner of his eye. "I'll be changing the password as soon as _she_ is away." She rolled her eyes. As if she was going to go out of her way to break into anything of Malfoy's. "Yes Mr. Malfoy." The painting said and creaked open. The hole was about half a meter by half a meter wide and both of them had to crawl to get into it. Draco held the unconscious bird carefully in his hand as he got inside.

Hermione's eyes widened when she finally climbed out of the boxed-in entrance. The room she saw was about as large as the Gryffindor common room. The walls were a pale beige colour; the room consisted of rows, and rows of mouldy-green tables with bottles of potions, cauldrons and spell books. It looked like an unfinished potions classroom to her. The only things missing were clean furniture, students and obviously Professor Snape. She was tempted to ask Draco how he knew about the classroom and why he had a password, but decided that she was not going to waste her breath on questions she knew he wouldn't answer.

He placed the bird on a nearby table and pulled a syringe out from a little basket placed on top of the table. He drew a sample of the bird's blood and put the syringe on the table next to the basket. Next, he pulled out tiny little bottles containing what looked like green slime, frogs' legs and... pasta. "Malfoy I don't think you should interfere with things like..." "Hush!" He placed a big bowl down on the table and mixed his odd ingredients together, along with a litre of yellowy liquid (that was foreign to Hermione) and the bird's blood. He rushed to the other side of the room, grabbed a book out of a rickety old closet, and rushed back. Hermione was still standing frozen in place, holding tightly onto Draco's wand, in case he tried to pull anything funny.

He read a spell softly to himself, closed the book and pulled a strand of hair out of his perfectly combed white-blonde mane and plopped it into the bowl. A puff of green smoke escaped it and Draco turned towards Hermione with a sly grin. She ignored him and looked worryingly at the bird. Draco turned back and filled the syringe with the odd potion he had created and pricked the bird, causing it to suddenly wail in pain. "Malfoy!"

Draco pretended not to hear Hermione and watched as the bird vanished in a large puff of bright, blinding green smoke. Hermione looked terrified and pointed Draco's wand at him. "What have you done?" she asked with her voice high and panicky as she stared at the green smoke. "Voila!" Draco said sarcastically and pointed to where the blinding bright smoke was now vanishing. In the bird's place on the table lay a tall, tan woman with long dark brown hair down to her hips. She lay there naked and Draco raised an eyebrow. She was still unconscious. "Shape-shifter..." Hermione whispered to herself and shook her head before realising that Draco was invading the nude woman's privacy. "Oh!" she cried and pushed him away.

Draco laughed to himself. "There are clothes in that closet over there." Hermione rushed and got some clothes for the woman, as if she was embarrassed for her part. Eventually, the shape-shifter woke up and frowned at Hermione who was now putting shoes on her feet. "Who are you?" she asked in a slow, husky Russian accent. Her dark blue eyes were big and beautiful and her expression was confused. "Oh, I'm Hermione;" she said, quickly getting to her feet. "Hermione Granger. You flew into me when I was running this morning." The woman quickly noticed Draco and nodded. "You're a Malfoy." She pointed out; oblivious to the fact that Hermione even spoke. He nodded once. "The hair." She said simply and looked back at Hermione. "Vy are you touching me?"

Hermione was smiling, but the smile quickly faded as the woman's rude question took her aback. "I was dressing you, you were naked." The woman frowned at Hermione then nodded, looking somewhat repulsed. She cocked her head towards Draco again, it was a fast, jerky movement and her abnormally wide set eyes emphasised her oddness. "Tatyana Ivanof." said Draco, "She's a Russian shape-shifting witch – one hundred and thirty years old, yet doesn't look a day over twenty." "But how is that possible?" Hermione looked at the oddly beautiful woman with wide eyes. "Shape-shifters can live up to three hundred years. When they're born, they age three years every two weeks and when they reach an adult 'age' they stop growing old." She shook her head; she couldn't understand how she had never known that before. She looked up at the peculiar woman who was now dressed in a black dress that might have been a size too small for her voluptuous body. She was staring at Draco now; her eyebrows scrunched together, but she had no frown lines, her skin was smooth and looked somewhat hard like a stone's.

Suddenly she jumped up with a swift movement that looked like she flew up and landed softly on her feet. Her hair seemed to swoosh just as evenly and bounced off her shoulders. Her gaze stayed on Draco all the while. "Ze Dark Lord has sent me to do a duty and I cannot have you in ze way." Hermione gasped, her hands covering her mouth. Draco chuckled. "The Dark Lord wouldn't send out a lousy Shape-Shifter to do any of his work. Dream on princess!"

Tatyana suddenly hissed at Draco, her eyes looking at him like a wild cat's. Hermione was terrified, she had never seen anything like Tatyana, but Draco just seemed to look bored as he stepped closer to the crazy witch. "Alright, say I do believe a lying piece of waste of oxygen – what did he ask you to do?" She hissed again. "ZE DARK LORD HAS ASKED ME TO ENTRAP A MALFOY AND ZAT IS ALL I VILL SAY!" There was a loud screech and suddenly Tatyana was gone.

For the first time, Draco looked worried. Hermione looked around, looking for any trace of Tatyana, but found nothing. "How –;" she cut herself off, knowing she would only make the situation worse for herself. Draco shook his head, panicking. "I don't know! Shape-shifters can't teleport."

"Why did you treat her like _that_?" Hermione cried. "You're _supposed_ to or they feel they have control over you!" Draco said. Hermione shook her head. "Well that worked." She walked towards the small hole they came through, crawled to the canvas but it wouldn't budge open from the other side. She grunted. "Malfoy, just open the damn door!" Draco pushed her away and pulled on the lever of the door, but nothing. Then he grabbed his wand out of her hand and tried to summon it to open, but no spell he tried would work. Hermione pulled her wand out of her pocket and did the same, but nothing. Then a loud bang made them both jump. A window in the far corner opened suddenly but before either could react, it slammed shut in an instant. "Damn you Tatyana!" Draco yelled when he noticed a little bird flying away as he jerked on the closed window that was sealed with magic. "Wonderful;" Hermione said, "This is just the way I wanted to start my Monday morning."

- So what do you think? Let me know what you think of the story by reviewing! If you love it, please recommend it to friends :) Thanks everyone you rock! xoxox -


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 3

After several attempts at escaping, Hermione finally gave up and sat down on the nearest table, sighing with her wand in her hand. Draco already gave up a while before and stood staring out the window. He could not understand Tatyana's odd behaviour. Maybe the Dark Lord did in fact send her to do a job. He could not imagine a shape-shifter disobeying orders from a pureblood like himself – it was unheard of. He couldn't see her in the distance anymore. She had taken the shape of the Oriental Prantincole and vanished into the clouds a couple of minutes before. He knew now that she hadn't flown into Hermione by accident; it had been a well-planned strategy to entrap him and Granger just happened to be the closest. He shook his head. Did it have to be the only mudblood he had a severe hatred for, for something other than her blood type? He just hated her guts and the way she seemed to "know" everything.

He snorted.

Hermione rolled her eyes. She knew what he was thinking; entrapment with her must have been hell on his ego. What would he tell people afterwards? The poor thing couldn't _possibly_ tell his peers that he was stuck in a room nobody knew about with a "pathetic mudblood". She thought bitterly.

She sighed as she played with the tip of her wand. She, on the other hand, couldn't be bothered. What really got to her was missing her Defence Against The Dark Arts exam she had been studying for, for 3 weeks and the assignment she put so much effort into for Potions was due that day. She gritted her teeth and played a little more aggressively with her wand.

The room was quiet for a while when Hermione decided to break the silence; "How did you know about this place?" she figured she might as well talk to him if she didn't know how long they were going to be trapped for. He kept his position and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Long enough." She sighed in frustration. "Look Malfoy, you could make it easy or you could make it difficult – either way I don't think we're going to be freed for quite some time so you might as well get used to the fact that I'm here too!" Draco turned slowly and sneered at her. "It doesn't mean I have to bond with the peasants." he said mockingly. "Oh," said Hermione sarcastically. "I'm so sorry your highness."

Hermione had gathered that Harry and Ron would start looking for her and didn't ponder any further. She then decided to do some exploring and walked through the massive classroom. She snooped in every closet, every drawer, every box that was lying about and found things you would not normally think to find. One closet was completely filled with tinned foods, powdered drinks and coffee. "Convenient." she said to herself. She had found a big box filled with more books than you could imagine and another contained a big mirror. She wondered why all these things were in this class. Was it a storeroom of some sort or was it just another type of Room of Requirement? Maybe it _was_ the Room of Requirement and Draco had just found another entrance to it. It would have been very insightful to know, but she did not waste her time – Draco was sitting on a chair now with his legs up on a table and his arms folded and she knew he was not going to answer any of her questions anyway. She took a book from the box entitled, "Mandatory Mantelpiece" and paged through it slowly.

Draco finally got up and walked towards what Hermione had now dubbed "the grocery cupboard" and got himself a tin of tuna. He pointed his wand at the tin and it slowly sliced the top bit off, sending the smell around the room. He then walked a few steps toward a drawer, took a fork out and walked around as he ate. "What do you suppose the time is now?" he asked casually. She looked up from her book. "You're talking me now?" she asked blankly. Draco just continued to eat, looking at her with the same poker face. As she got up with a sigh that made it sound like effort, she realised that a clock and a place to sleep were the only things that were missing from the room. She made her way to the window and Draco followed suit. "It should be just after one o'clock." she said, pointing at the sun. He nodded. "How do you know that?" Hermione sighed again and looked out the window again. "The sun isn't high in the sky anymore; it's headed west and is just off high noon. Trust me, it's just after one." She walked back to the book she was reading, ignoring the questions she was burning to ask him. She shut down her curiosity and read the book as if her life depended on it. Dramatic, she knew, but she also knew she was a very inquisitive person and if she did not stop herself, she would bombard Draco with questions.

"It's been a family hideout for decades, my great-grandfather made this place." Draco answered her question and she wondered if it looked that obvious that she was dying to ask again. "Why did you bring me here?" "I will erase your memory of ever coming here as soon as we're outside and that was my plan from the start – you will never know this place existed after we get freed." That was not good enough for Hermione. "You didn't answer my question." Draco pondered this for a second. He could have snatched the bird from her and gotten away easily but he didn't and he didn't quite know why. "I know you're stubborn so I didn't bother to run away from you." She nodded. "What about the food and supplies here?" "Just in case." "So you knew this was going to happen?" "No." he said. "So what's it in case of?" Hermione knew she was getting on his nerves but she didn't care. She was like a drug addict finally getting her fix. "_Just _in case! In case we needed to hide out for some reason, in case there was a war and there would be nowhere to stay, just in case, ok?" Draco snapped at her.

She backed off. Draco threw the tuna tin away in a nearby dirt bin along with the fork. Hermione only realised it was a plastic fork as he chucked it. "What about Tanya?" "Tatyana" he corrected. "How did you know who she was?" she asked. "I told you my mother used to look after them. She used to help the nomads out with a place to stay, make them clothes, give them food, whatever they needed. Tatyana was one of the Russian nomads that came once a year." Hermione nodded. It was as if she was finally satisfied that she had gotten her answers. Draco took his wand out of his pocket and turned one of the desk chairs into a beautiful, luxurious white recliner chair. Hermione watched as he lay down and closed his eyes.

It was still early in the afternoon and she did not feel sleepy at all, but the grumbling in her stomach was starting to annoy her so she walked up to the grocery cupboard and pulled out a box of muffin mix. A few waves of her wand later, she had a tray of freshly baked bran muffins in her hand. She took one, munched on it, and turned another chair into a similar-looking recliner chair that Draco was snoozing on and read her book.

- What do you think of Tatyana and the story so far? LE me know by reviewing, the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! xoxox -


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 4

The next day Hermione woke up early and transfigured her luxurious 3quarter bed back into the class desk it was before she changed it the night before. Draco was standing by the window, giving her a dirty look and Hermione noticed that he still had the desk in a recliner chair and he probably didn't know how to change it into a bed. She laughed darkly under her breath and walked up to the closet she had found clothes in for Tatyana the previous day.

The closet was full of different clothes and she knew that she could alter anything magically to fit her so she chose a black and white striped T-shirt and a pair of branded jeans.

She jumped into the closet, closed the door and pulled the clothes on quickly. As she pulled the jeans on, she hopped to get them to close at the zip when she tripped and landed on the ground. She cried in pain at the blow she received on her hip, but then realised that she hadn't bumped her head at all, making her wonder just how big the closet was. She stood up and looked, but only saw darkness up ahead. Slowly she crawled along the side of the closet and into the darkness. Eventually, after crawling for about a minute, she decided that there was no end to the closet and that she was going to get her wand to light her path and hopefully find a way out.

She rushed back and got out of the closet. "Did you get stuck, Granger?" But Hermione ignored him and grabbed a backpack that was in one of the cupboards and filled it with food and clothes before grabbing her wand from inside one of the desk drawers. Draco looked at her with shock and opened the closet she had come out of and examined it. "Is it a portkey, then?" he asked. Hermione ignored him again. If he wanted to know, he'd better follow her lead.

She pulled the backpack on her back and opened the closet to get in, shoving Draco to one side. "Granger you can't disapperate from here you know."

"I know!" she said. "Draco, get some things packed. There's a way out from the closet."

But Draco stood there stubbornly and folded his arms. "How?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Look, there's no time. Just trust me."

Remembering that he had said the same thing to Hermione about the Oriental Pratincole, he sighed. "Fine." He turned and grabbed a bigger backpack from the same cupboard she had found one in and loaded food and clothes in it.

"Off we go then." Hermione said to herself and they both started walking into the darkness. "Lumos" she said and the tip of her wand lit up just enough to see about a meter ahead of them. Draco also did this. "It could be a trap" he said in a whisper. Hermione nodded. "It could be, but it's only you they want." Draco snapped a look at her. "You're right, what would they want with a filthy mudblood anyway?" Hermione rolled her eyes; somehow the mudblood comment didn't bug her anymore after five years of endless teasing from him. "Honestly Draco, I'm a lot prettier than you, there's a lot of things _I_ can think of." She said, but very quickly regretted her cheeky comment and blushed furiously and was very grateful that it was too dark for him to see. He looked at her and was at a loss for words. "Oh" was all he muttered and swallowed, "well in that case, I'm safe."

Hermione decided it was safer not to say anything as they strolled along the path that seemed never-ending. She got extremely annoyed with Draco shuffling his feet and she was sure he was doing it on purpose to irritate her. It reminded her of Ron and the stupid things he would do in a situation like this. He would probably do everything in his power to annoy her for some form of entertainment too. She wondered where they thought she was and if either of them gathered (well, Harry at least. _He_ had a brain.) that she and Malfoy had gone missing at the same time and had probably been abducted together, if that's what you'd call it or if they thought it was completely coincidental. She imagined Harry proposing this suggestion to Ron who then would say something like; "That's completely mental Harry! Unless... wait! Malfoy probably kidnapped _her_ in an attempt to get her alone, Harry I knew he liked her, I knew it!" Hermione grinned. No, he would probably just say that it was mental and think the rest of the sentence.

"What are you smiling at?" Draco asked, breaking her thoughts. "Just thinking what everyone else is up to." she said. He was quiet for a second, probably surprised that she didn't have a sarcastic answer. "Yeah" he said "Crabbe and Goyle are probably attempting to actually do homework in their boredom. Not having a leader to tell them what to do." Hermione smiled at that, although Draco had a big head it was true that his minions couldn't do anything without him telling them what to do. "Ron and Harry are probably _not_ doing theirs for once, since I'm not there telling them to do it." She thought she saw him smile, but he lowered his wand so she couldn't be sure. "Do you think there's a search party out for us?" she asked. Draco nodded when he lifted his wand again. "My father won't let it go 'till I'm found." "Pfft... don't you mean Dumbledore?"

"No." He snapped. "Dumbledore couldn't give a damn if I'm dead or alive."

"You're wrong. Of course he does. Have you ever seen him be cruel to anyone? Honestly?"

Draco thought for a second and then his face dropped. "I guess not."

"Precisely." She said pompously.

They walked in silence for another hour or so, just walking straight ahead. "Hold on..." said Draco suddenly and pulled out two granola bars from his backpack and handed one to Hermione. She hesitated for a second, looking at it and him with suspicion. He was about to put it back in the backpack when she grabbed it. "Thanks." she said.

After a long while passed – Hermione guessed it had been about 3 hours – of just walking in a straight line, tracing the rocky walls with her fingers, they rested. Unfortunately for them, this time there was nothing to transfigure into something soft to rest on. "What if this is a trap?" said Hermione. "What if this is a trick You-Know-Who's set up for us?"

Draco grunted. "Then, I guess, we're toast."

Hermione frowned and stared at the darkness ahead. "But I don't understand," she said, "Why would he want to 'entrap a Malfoy', like Tatyana said? Wasn't your father a death eater all those years ago?"

Draco shifted his weight to his left leg uncomfortably. "You know, you're awfully nosy." he said. Hermione crossed her arms as if she was affronted. "Well excuse me for trying to figure out whether we're going to die or not!" she snarled. "We're not going to die Granger, stop being so melodramatic." He said, taking his backpack off and sitting on it for some comfort. Hermione huffed and sucked in her lips. She had to stop herself from arguing with him; otherwise it would just make things more complicated. "Fine." She said, giving up and sitting down on her bag as well.

"Don't you know some spell to light up the whole tunnel?" Draco said, frowning at her. Hermione thought about it, but then shook her head. "I've never needed something like that so I didn't pay attention to it. I know I read about one in _Spells for the Adventurous Wizard_, but for the life of me, I can't remember it." Draco nodded.

After resting their eyes for who knows how long, they set off again with the tips of their wands shining brightly. This time they didn't have to walk that long and it took about twenty minutes before Hermione noticed something odd.

"A door?" Ahead of them was a small brown door, not unlike any other she'd seen in her parent's muggle house. Hermione wondered if it was safe, but looking around she saw that she had no choice but to try it out. She walked forwards and Draco held his wand at the ready. He nodded to her. She turned the knob on the door and it opened easily with a tiny creak.

They were greeted with a light so bright it was almost blinding and a second later, after Hermione's eyes adjusted, she saw not only that they had entered a small and almost empty garden cottage, but that in one corner there was a tiny house elf bounded to a chair, gagging on a sock.

-Sooooo what do you think? Review Review Review! ;) xoxox-


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 5

"Oh my-" said Hermione as she walked up to the house elf and took the sock out of his mouth, "Dobby?" The little house elf stared up at her with his big tennis-ball-like eyes and his bat-like pointy ears flopped backwards. He looked paler than normal and had big black rings around his eyes. He looked terribly ill and frailer than normal. He was stuck to the chair like he was bound to it with ropes, but no ropes were visible to Hermione.

"You know him?" asked Draco darkly. Hermione jumped at his voice, she forgot he was there. Dobby looked at Draco with tired eyes and after a moment they suddenly widened like they had seen a ghost and he screeched, pulling at the chair as if he wanted to run away. You see, Dobby had been Draco's family's house elf before Harry freed him three years back by tricking Draco's dad into giving him one of Harry's socks. If you give an elf clothes, you set him free.

"Of course I know him." she said irritably to Draco who then smiled amusingly at the little elf. "This is no time to hold grudges, Draco. Clearly he's been tortured." Dobby was struggling terribly to set himself free. Hermione bent down to Dobby's level and held him gently on his shoulders. "He won't hurt you Dobby, not while I'm around, alright?" Dobby looked at Draco with scared eyes and looked back at Hermione, nodding slowly. Hermione nodded with him. "I'm going to unstuck you, but you promise not to run away?" Dobby looked up at her with his big green eyes again, too tired to argue. "I will let you see Harry Potter once we get out of here." Suddenly Dobby's eyes lit up like a light had been switched on. "Harry P-Potter?" he croaked. Hermione smiled at him.

Draco was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He looked out the window of the garden cottage and noticed that The Three Broomsticks was right outside. He frowned and looked closer and he could see girls in Hogwarts uniforms. "Hermione, look!" he said and pointed out to the grounds. Hermione was taken aback. Draco had never said her name before, but shoved it off as a mere accident and stood up to look out the window. "Excellent." she said as she saw a group of Hufflepuffs she recognised walk past the cottage. She looked at Dobby and pointed her wand at him. "_Waddiw_asi" Dobby jumped off the chair and smiled up at Hermione. "You have a good heart Miss, a good heart indeed." he said "Just like Harry Potter." Draco scowled. "Could we leave the soppy moment for _after_ we've escaped please?" he said. "Mr Malfoy is jealous of Harry Potter and friends of Harry Potter." said Dobby, glaring at Draco and making a fist. Hermione cleared her throat loud as Draco was about to retaliate and he folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "May we go now?" she asked, holding the door open.

When they walked out it was like heaven seeing the clear sky and breathing the cool air. "Who bounded you to that chair Dobby?" Hermione asked as Dobby walked on her side, swaying a bit from being so tired. "Dobby cannot remember Miss, Dobby was unconscious." "I'll bet it was Tatyana." Draco said walking along Hermione's other side. She frowned. "But why Dobby? I can understand you and obviously me by accident, but what would she need Dobby for?"

"House elves keep secrets of the family they work for. They are the eyes and ears of the household. The Dark Lord clearly has it in for my family." Hermione was shocked that Draco was suddenly telling her these things when a few hours ago he was shunning her for being nosy, but she was careful not to show it on her face. "Do you have any idea why?" she asked. Draco heaved a loud sigh. "My father refused to join the dark side this time. He doesn't want to be a Death Eater again." Hermione's mouth fell open and she stared at Draco. "He wants to be good and You-Know-Who's not allowing him." she quickly said "That's... understandable, I guess." Draco said nothing and Dobby just walked along like he was a zombie, not hearing or seeing anything. "What I don't understand is why he wants a shape shifter to entrap you? I mean, it's weak, isn't it, for him? I would expect someone as evil as him to want to 'kill a Malfoy', not 'entrap' one." she realised she was treading on shallow ground when Draco didn't reply. Then she heard Dobby gasp loud. "HARRY POTTER!"

Hermione looked ahead and saw Harry and Ron inside The Three Broomsticks, pained expressions on their faces. She rushed inside and grabbed Ron around his neck and gave him a big hug. "Hermione?" said Harry. "Hermione?" Ron gasped and turned around to look at her. "It is, it's really you!" he hugged her hard and Harry came round and hugged her just as tight. Hermione felt her heart leap and tears ran down her face. "Harry Potter and Weazy!" said Dobby, too exhausted to show too much emotion, but he still jumped on the table and hugged Harry around his neck. "Dobby!" said Harry, "and Malfoy?"

Ron saw Draco and glared at him. "Malfoy what were you doing –" "Wait!" cried Hermione, sensing danger ahead. "Draco and I were kidnapped, both of us. Then, we found Dobby." They sat down and realised that eyes were fixed upon them from all angles as Hermione told Harry and Ron the story.

"Shape shifters are nasty things. Saw one turn itself into a hippo once, right in Diagon Alley when I was four, scared me lifeless." Draco laughed darkly, still standing with his hands folded across his chest. "What?" said Ron. "That was probably someone just Transfiguring. Shape shifters turn into animals that are extinct or nearly extinct and not frightening creatures either. Shape shifters are normally harmless." "Thank you." Ron said sarcastically. Draco sighed and saw Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy enter. "I'll be leaving now." He gave Hermione a small smile and walked away.

Hermione went up to Professor Dumbledore's office after they had returned from Hogsmeade where he welcomed her with curious worry on his face. "Miss Granger, I see you're back safe and sound!" he said like a father with only concern in his voice as he got up from his chair and walked around to the other side of his desk. He placed a hand on her back and offered her a glass of butterbeer. "No I'm alright, thank you Professor." she said. "Have a seat." Professor Dumbledore went back to his chair and offered Hermione the chair in front of his desk. She sat down and started telling him the long story about the shape shifter, Draco, Dobby and the mysterious place she was in (she pretended not to know where this room was and made it seem as though Tatyana must have put a memory charm on her).

"So that's the story Professor. I'd be more than willing to catch up on all the work we've missed. I'm terribly sorry about the inconvenience this has caused." Dumbledore waved away her apology. "There is nothing to apologise for Miss Granger." he said in a placid tone. "If anything, it is me who should apologise for letting this happen to you." Hermione said nothing and smiled at Dumbledore.

"Now," he carried on, "You know what this means, don't you?" For a second Hermione thought that she might have gotten detention, but she just shook her head. "No sir." He got up from his chair and paced around. "If Voldemort is after the Malfoy family and you happen to be in the way of his plan, you are a liability to him." "Sir?" "Well," he carried on, still pacing up and down the office, "Voldemort doesn't like people getting in the way and I'm sure Draco has told you all about his father being a Death Eater before and then turning good and is not turning to the dark side once more." Hermione frowned, she wondered how Dumbledore could have possibly known that Draco had told her all that when it just happened that day. "Anyway, you say that Dobby the house elf was also with you?" Hermione heave a sudden sigh. "Yes... well, Dobby was in the cottage the long passage led to." Dumbledore stopped pacing and frowned at Hermione. "Not the Shrieking Shack, was it?" She shook her head. "No sir, it was a few cottages close to it though, right across The Three Broomsticks." Dumbledore nodded. "Where is Dobby now?" he asked. "Oh, Harry took him to see Madame Pomfrey, he looks exhausted, but other than that he didn't have a scratch on him." "I see."

With that he clapped his hands together and said in a cheery tone, "Well thank you for informing me Miss Granger. I will be speaking to Draco about this tomorrow and I will let you in on anything I know. In the meantime however, make sure you stay far away from danger and as far away from Draco Malfoy as you possibly can." She nodded and he wished her a good night.

Hermione later made her way to dinner and was met with a lot of curious faces, but most of them were happy to see her. Except for the Slytherins, of course. Pansy Parkinson was sitting in front of Draco and was glaring at her with her pug face and thick black hair tied in a ponytail. Draco, however, didn't see her come in.

Hermione walked over to sit next to Ginny at the Gryffindor table across Harry, Ron, Fred and George. After a cheer from her friends she sat down, blushing profusely. "Oh stop it, don't be silly." she said smiling. "So tell us about this tunnel you were in?" Fred said excitedly as he leaned over the table. Hermione gathered that Harry and Ron had told them the whole story already and she was grateful, she didn't want to tell it for a third time in one day. "Yea Hermione, there's a tunnel in Hogwarts _we_" George pointed to him and his twin Fred "don't know about? Gastly!" "Horrible!" said Fred. "Shocking!" "Unheard of!" Ginny laughed. "Be glad you don't have nutty big brothers." she said and turned to hug Hermione. "I'm happy you're safe." "Yeah" said Ron "I think I would have gone completely mental spending more than an hour with that git." He jerked his chin towards Draco. Hermione turned in her chair to see Draco staring at her. She quickly turned back feeling embarrassed. "He's not so bad after all." she said softly. Harry frowned at her. "Come again?" he said. Hermione shrugged and suddenly Dumbledore stood up to make the evening announcements and Hermione thanked her lucky stars that she needn't explain to her friends what she meant, not until later anyway.

She turned to face Dumbledore and Draco caught her eye from the side. He was still staring at her. She put a hair behind her ear for an excuse to look in his direction and as she looked, he smiled and winked at her and suddenly she had butterflies dancing in her stomach. She was so shocked that she didn't know how to react, but then smiled nervously back at him.

She had to be honest with herself in that instant; was it really going to be that easy to stay away from Draco Malfoy?

-OK so any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated, obviously! So REVIEW PRETTY PLEEEEAAASE? Mwah! Xoxox -


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 6

The next day Hermione did her best to dodge any questions on what she meant with Draco not being such a bad guy, especially Ron who pestered her about it. "You know," he said as he poured the yolk of a chicken egg in his little cauldron in Potions class "he's not really that good looking if you look at him closely. Look at his head for example; it's too small for his body. Hermione I don't see how you -" Hermione then "accidentally" knocked Ron's hand as he poured some green liquid in a vile and it splattered all across the front of his robes. "Oi, watch out!" he cried. "Sorry Ronald." she said and smiled smugly to herself. "Now I smell like blubber pus. Thanks Hermione."

Yet, Ron didn't get the hint and mentioned it again in Care of Magical Creatures when they were forced to work with Blast-Ended Skrewts again by Hagrid. "These damn skrewts! They were a mission to control last year and now we get them again!" he snorted when Malfoy wasn't complaining for once. "Thinks he's some sort of hero now, does he? All modest and-" "Ron, enough. Seriously!" Hermione snapped when she finally boxed hers in one of the crates and latched the lock with her wand. Her hair was standing in all direction. She felt a little faint, but shrugged it off.

"What's up with you?" he said "Honestly Hermione, you'd swear you and Malfoy are the best of friends now the way you've been carrying on." "We are _not_!" she said and stomped her foot. "Now stop it." "We aren't?" she heard a sly voice from behind her and goose bumps rose on her arms. She swung around to see Malfoy with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Realising that half the class was now staring at them. Hermione pulled a face at him. "What are you doing?" she asked, looking around at the stunned eyes of their classmates who seemed to have forgotten about their skrewts. "But Hermione, you told me we're going out now." he said and he looked genuinely hurt. "_What?_" she said and half the class gasped. "You told me that you'd love me forever..." he said "That I'm the one you've been dreaming about." Draco walked closer and stroked her cheek when suddenly a loud bang went off and Hermione woke up with a start.

She realised she had passed out on the grass and half the class was standing above her, the other half were still trying to manage their skrewts into their crates. "'ermione, you alrigh'?" Hagrid's big, monstrous head was right above her. She tried to get up but it felt like something was weighing her head down and she got an instant headache from the effort. "Easy now..." Hagrid said again. "Wha-what happened?" she asked and sat up slowly. "You were managing your skrewt – struggled a bit but you were alright," said Harry "and next thing we noticed you'd fainted."

Hermione looked around, but Draco was one of the students who weren't interested in the sudden drama, he was swearing loudly at a skrewt now, commanding it in its crate. "I think you better go an' see Madam Pomfrey, 'ermoine! Here, I'll take you up."

With that, she walked up to the Hospital Wing without a second glance to see if Draco even cared to watch.

Pansy Parkinson was giggling with the rest of her Slytherin girlfriends when one of them imitated Hermione fainting at the dinner table. Draco rolled his eyes at them and chewed on a chicken drumstick. "What's your problem, Draco?" she asked, her voice suddenly vicious with anger. Draco swallowed. "You are Parkinson! You act just like a child." Pansy scowled at him. "Got a thing for filthy blood now, do you?" she snapped. "I bet her blood is cleaner than your mouth." Draco said placidly and took a sip from a glass of orange juice.

Pansy said nothing and glared at him.

Draco looked over at the Gryffindor table and noticed Hermione wasn't there. When dinner was over, Draco caught up with Ginny when she was alone and swallowed his pride for a second. "Hey, erm, Weasley." he said and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to face him and her eyes grew in surprise. "Me?" she said. "No, the one behind the stone pillar over there. There are twenty of you, aren't there?" he said sarcastically. She folded her arms across her chest. "What do you want?" He sighed. "Granger. You seen her?" Ginny scrunched her eyes and glared at him. "You stay away from Hermione, you understand me? Or I'll turn you into something that'll put your little 'ferret faze' to shame." Draco thought back to when Professor Moody had turned him into a ferret the year before and winced.

"Look, Dumbledore needs to see me and I need to know what she said to him so I don't tell him something I shouldn't." Ginny continued to glare at him suspiciously. "She's still in the Hospital Wing." she said despite herself and walked away.

Draco was smug that he only had to ask once to get what he wanted, but he knew there was no time to soak up the victory and rushed up to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey was using her wand to mend a second-year Hufflepuff's broken ankle.

Hermione had the bed closest to the door and as Draco entered he saw she was sleeping soundly. "Can I help you, Draco?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she walked away from the little boy, dressed in a navy blue dressing gown and a nurse's hat on her head.

"Madam Pomfrey," he said "what made Hermione faint today? It couldn't have been the skrewts, she has seen them before and dealt with them with ease. Could it have been someone in class?" Madam Pomfrey turned her head to look at Hermione who still lay sleeping. "Oh it's definitely a Stupefy spell gone wrong, I can tell you that." she said "If you want to visit her, go ahead. Just close the door behind you when you leave. I'm calling it a night. Good night, Draco." With that she left, leaving the door ajar.

For a second he just stood there looking at her. Her skin looked smooth and creamy, her hair long and loose lay over her arms and he never noticed before, but she was a very pretty girl. "Stunningly pretty" Rita Skeeter once called her in an article on Harry's supposed love-affair with her and Draco remembered Pansy laughing hysterically at it and he agreed, not ever taking the chance to really look if it was true. Now, when he thought back, it was just Pansy's impression of Hermione (and the fact that she was a mudblood, obviously) that put him off.

He quickly shook the thought away and straightened up. He wasn't getting feelings for Granger! Sure, she was pretty, but that was where it ended, he wasn't going to let that... _entice _him.

Hermione's eyes fluttered open a second later and she looked up at him. Draco realised he was staring at her and felt a real git just standing there, so he looked around suddenly and looked down at her again. "Oh there you are!" he said, sounding terribly unconvincing. Hermione let out a sudden burst of laughter. "I saw you looking at me." she said and blushed as she sat up. Draco cringed. "I wasn't. Anyway –" he said, looking around for something to look at other than her. "I came here to ask you about Dumbledore. He told me he wanted to see me tonight. I just wanted to get the story straight. What did you tell him?"

Hermione suddenly looked serious, trying to recall her conversation with Dumbledore the night before. "He just wanted to know what happened so I told him." she said, then remembered, "Oh and I didn't tell him about your little room, said Tatyana did a memory charm so I wouldn't know where we are. I think you should say the same if you want to keep that room a secret." Draco frowned as he looked back at her. "Why didn't you just tell him?"

Hermione smiled, "Because believe it or not Malfoy, I am a nice person." Draco snorted and sat down on the chair next to her bed. "You could have fooled me." he teased. Hermione shook her head. "So, just don't tell Dumbledore about the room. The rest is fine." He smiled at her, but a split second later it disappeared again as if he remembered who she was again.

"Oh and he told me to stay away from you." she faked a laugh, hoping he wouldn't catch that she was actually bummed about it. He frowned. "_Why_?" he asked and Hermione looked up at him with a small smile. "Because-" she struggled. "Because... ask him when you see him. You should be there, shouldn't you? It's late."

Draco looked down at his wristwatch and Hermione was right; dinner had been over a half an hour ago. He stood up and walked to the door. "Draco," Hermione said, her voice was almost a whisper and he turned to look at her as he stood by the door, "I'm not letting you live down looking at me while I was sleeping." she said and grinned slyly. Draco glowered at her embarrassingly and closed the door behind him.

Draco stood outside the huge statue of a Gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office and said "Gillyworms", like Dumbledore had instructed him before dinner. It moved and let him in.

He had never been in Dumbledore's office before and thought it looked like a rather cluttered library with books and ornaments wherever he looked. Dumbledore himself was sitting at his desk, looking over a parchment he was just reading. "Ah, Draco! What took you so long?" he asked and put the parchment down on the desk. "Have a seat." he said and gestured to the seat across from the desk that Hermione had sat in the night before.

He did as he was told and had a seat. "Now, Draco. Are you aware of the danger you're in?" Draco looked at Dumbledore like it was the first time he'd seen him. "What do you mean?" he said, shocked at the sudden turn the conversation had taken. "Voldemort is after your family. I have received news from the Ministry that your father has been receiving a lot of visits from a man in a cloak who claims to be his bank manager. Yesterday, however, your father was kidnapped from his office." Draco shot up from his chair. "Volemort has my father?" "Now calm down Dr-" "Don't tell me to calm down! Do you have any idea what he will do to him? Do you have the faintest idea of what it will do to my mother if my father is... is..." Dumbledore nodded and Draco sat back down when he realised that Dumbledore had more to say. "My mother?" said Draco. "Your mother is safe." "Where is she?" Dumbledore sighed, "I'm afraid I can't tell you Draco. Under the circumstances, if you are captured they could easily get it out of you." Draco clutched at his white-blonde hair.

"From what I hear, Voldemort made it easy for you and Granger to escape right after he captured your father, because it isn't you that he needs. The Ministry has sent out some of the best Aurors to go looking for your father, so I beg you, Draco, not to panic as the situation is in good hands." Draco said nothing and clenched his fists. "I promise to inform you on what happens." Dumbledore said. "Yeah," said Draco and got up to leave, "thanks."

Draco stormed out of Dumbledore's office. The hallways of Hogwarts were quieting down, students were all making their ways to their houses and Professor McGonagall was reprimanding a group of Slytherin first-years closeby. Draco didn't want to go to the Slytherin common room just yet, he knew as soon as he would enter, Pansy and her gang of leeches would ambush him and ask millions of questions about why he looked upset.

No, he thought, he was going somewhere private. For a second he wished he had an invisibility cloak like Harry Potter, but it didn't matter. So what if he got caught? He needed to be alone and needed to think, so he rushed up to the owlery where millions of big eyes looked down at him expectantly. "Don't get your hopes up," he said to them "I have an owl." Most of them looked like they were hurt about that.

Draco went to sit in a corner of the dirty and dusty owlery and thought about what he could do, thought about where the Ministry could have hidden his mother and where Voldemort would hide his father. He wondered if his father was still alive and if Voldemort was torturing him.

Three hours of exausting thinking and worrying later, Draco fell asleep.

-So, I know it took a while, but we're getting somewhere :-). Also, I want at least 5 reviews before I publish the next chapter so I know if you guys are enjoying it! So review, review, review! :-)-


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 7

The next morning Draco was woken up by a kick to his knee. "Wake up Malfoy!" It was the voice of the most annoying girl in school, Pansy Parkinson, waking him up. "Snape's looking for you all over the place. Oh, he won't be happy about this. Finding his own student in the owle-" But she paused when she saw the state he was in. He got up drunkenly with his hair standing in all directions and his eyes thick. "What the hell happened to you?" she asked. He paused and gave her a weak glare before he walked off. "Where are you going? I demand to know where you're going Malfoy, I need to tell Snape." Pansy dodged all the dirt on the floor she could possibly manage, hopping along like a circus clown.

Draco turned suddenly; catching Pansy off guard and making her slip and fall on the dirty floor with a loud thud. "Leave me alone." he said and stormed off.

He didn't have to walk too far to find Snape standing in one of the hallways. "_Where_ have you been?" Snape asked, his usually lazy voice sounding more like a growl. "Sorry Professor." Draco simply said and walked past Snape. Professor Snape rushed to keep up with him. "Draco, you know I hate to do this, but you have to get detention now." Draco was unresponsive and kept walking, his mind was elsewhere. Snape grunted, but just let him go and stood stationary where he was.

Draco walked into up the corridors and into the Divinations classroom up in the north tower. The fumes in Professor Trelawny's class were enough to make anyone high.

All eyes were on Draco as he arrived much later than everyone else, but he barely noticed and just took his seat.

"Oh yes this one," Professor Trelawny said in her weird, airy-fairy voice and looked at Draco, "I can tell this one is in great danger." she carried on and Draco looked at her blankly. He hated her. She was the second-most annoying female alive, next to Parkinson.

She looked in the crystal ball that stood on the table in front of Draco and her eyes widened, which made them look too big for her head, since the lenses in her glasses were so thick that they magnified her eyes a huge amount already.

She then swallowed so hard that Draco could hear it from the other side of the table. Professor Trelawny looked up at Draco and gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth. Draco was about to tell her off when she zipped around and clasped her hands together. "After class my dear boy, after class."

Ten minutes later, Draco was just dozing off while Professor Trelawny was going on about the movements of Mars in Aquarius when he suddenly heard a shuffling. Class was over and Trelawny was next to him with her big, fly eyes and he wished he had an over-sized fly swatter to swat her with. He stood up and was about to walk out; "My dear, dear boy!" Draco took a deep breath and turned to look at her. "Dark times await you, Draco. Do be careful?"

Draco made a face and walked out. "You could have fooled me." he grunted.

It was November and Hermione was sure it was the coldest November she'd had at Hogwarts in five years. She made her way to the library when she passed Draco in the corridor. He looked gaunt and pale with black rings around his eyes and a vacant expression on his face. She stopped and turned to look at him, clutching the books she meant to return to the library. For a moment she had an inner struggle, not knowing whether she should ask him what the matter was with him or just leave it and leave him alone like Dumbledore had told her to. He was almost out of sight when she decided to run after him. "Draco?" she said when she finally caught up with him. It took Draco a second to register who she was before he stopped. "You look horrendous," Hermione said "I think you need to go to the hospital wing." Draco shook his head, "No, no I'm fine, Hermione. Don't worry about me." Hermione swallowed when he said her name again. She looked around and peered into the window of a classroom close by. It was empty. She opened the door with a creak and gestured to him to go into the classroom with her.

Once inside Hermione stood there uncomfortable, even Draco looked a bit nervous. "So," Hermione said, clearing her throat, "What did Dumbledore say to you?" "Oh, nothing," he said, but Hermione wasn't convinced. "He said nothing? About You-Know-Who? About Dobby or... us?" Draco's eyes flickered as he looked at her. He clearly caught that she had meant to say "us" instead of "you and me".

"This isn't the time or the place," he said, looking outside at the other students walking up and down the corridors. "Anyway why are we hiding?" he asked. "Because," said Hermione, "Dumbledore doesn't want us around each other." Draco frowned and looked down and just then something caught his eye; it was one of Fred and George's Extendable Ears, lying on the floor right under the door. "What the –" He was about to pick it up when Hermione stopped him and put a finger to her mouth to signal to him to keep quiet. "_Accio Extendable Ears"_ she whispered, pointing her wand to it and she caught them as they landed in her free hand. They heard scattering outside and both of them looked out the window. It was no surprise that it had been Pansy Parkinson who was listening in on their conversation.

"How much do you think she heard?" Hermione asked, still staring outside. "Everything." Draco said, "Not much she can do about it though. We'll only have to be more discreet when hiding together now that she knows we're not allowed to be around each other."

Hermione turned and gasped when she realised Draco was only an inch away from her face. She didn't realise he had been standing so close to her. A second passed where they stood looking at each other, tension suddenly filling the air. "We have to scatter before she rats us out." she said and Draco nodded. Then he moved even closer to her and whispered in her ear; "Meet me outside Hagrid's hut at midnight. I'll make a plan about getting there; you just take Potter's cloak." She nodded and he walked out of the classroom, leaving her holding the Extendable Ears and her books.

Hermione exhaled. She looked down at the Extendable Ears only to notice hair and wax protruding out the one end. She squealed and dropped it before rushing off to the library.

In Transfiguration class Hermione tapped Lavender Brown on the shoulder and passed her a letter of parchment to hand to Harry. Lavender passed it to Harry who sat in front of her. He opened it and read:

_Harry,_

_I need your cloak. Will you please lend it to me tonight?_

_Hermione_

He scribbled something down and passed it to Lavender to pass back.

_Hermione_

_Why?_

_Harry_

Hermione rolled her eyes, scrawled something and tapped Lavender on her shoulder again. Lavender turned in her chair, looked up from her reading glasses in annoyance at Hermione and gripped the parchment to hand to Harry again.

_Harry_

_Because I'm asking you to. Do I ever ask why you and Ron want to copy my homework all the time?_

_Hermione_

Harry laughed. "Something funny, Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked with a stern face. Harry cleared his throat, "Nothing, ma'am." he said quickly as he scrunched the parchment up. When she looked away again he scribbled down on the paper again and gave it to Lavender who gritted her teeth and put down her textbook to throw the parchment at Hermione. It bounced off her chest and landed on her desk. "No need to be rude." Hermione said.

_Hermione_

_No, but you know why we copy your homework._

_Does this have anything to do with Malfoy?_

_Harry_

Lavender grabbed it out of Hermione's hand again and passed it to Harry.

_Harry_

_Let me borrow the cloak and I'll tell you the story._

_In the meantime, don't reply – it looks like Lavender's about to spring on both of us._

_Hermione_

Harry turned to look at Lavender who glared from behind a textbook. "Pass me that parchment one more time and I'll turn you into a gecko." Harry swallowed hard, then looked past her at Hermione and gave her a thumbs up before he turned back, looking considerably petrified.

Draco snuck out of the Slytherin boys' dormitory wearing blue jeans, a blue turtleneck shirt and big black coat. He made his way through the portrait hole carrying only his wand that was lit up at the tip. It was unusually easy to walk down the stairs too, there didn't seem to be a prefect in sight and last Draco heard Filtch was in bed sick. However when he got to the door Peeves blocked the door and giggled menacingly. "_Crack the riddle and you may go through…_" he said in an exaggerated demonic voice. Draco sighed, "Peeves I don't have time for this." Suddenly Peeves stomped his foot. "_Crack the riddle and you may go through…_" he said again, rushing his demonic voice now. "Please Peeves!" Draco whispered. Then a gust of wind suddenly knocked Peeves off his ghoulish feet and he fell hard on the ground. "Ouch!" Draco frowned, but then suddenly he was knocked off his feet too and fell hard on his stomach. ""Ooof!"

Then the castle's front doors swung open violently and Draco was pulled up. "Demons!" cried Peeves, "Dark Magic!" Draco was then pulled by his arms out of the castle and thrown on the ground. Peeves' eyes grew in horror as the doors suddenly pulled closed, "EVIL!"

As the doors slammed shut Hermione pulled the invisibility cloak off of her and smiled wide. Draco was surprised and smiled back. "W-" "Not the brightest star in the sky, are you Draco?" she said and laughed. Draco didn't find this funny and stood up to brush himself off without smiling. "I knew it was you." he lied. "Uh huh," Hermione said in a patronising voice, "I'm sure you did."

Draco pulled a face as Hermione threw the cloak over her shoulder and they started walking towards Hagrid's hut.

"So," said Hermione, "Are you ready to tell me?"

Draco sighed and looked behind him as they walked. The castle was a few meters away now and he decided it was safe to tell Hermione. He turned back and told her everything Dumbledore had told him the night before.

"But why would You-Know-Who want to kidnap your father?" Hermione said when they found a spot on a log behind Hagrid's cabin. "If he's not dead already." Draco said.

Hermione shook her head; "No it wouldn't make sense," she said, "If he sent somebody out to see him at his office so often he must have been collecting something."

Draco looked up at Hermione, her hair and part of her face glowed in the moonlight that shone north-west of her. "What do you mean?"

"Information." Hermione said and Draco suddenly stiffened up, "I'm not saying your father did it willingly, he could have been blackmailed or cursed," she quickly corrected and Draco relaxed his posture. "All I'm saying is that _maybe_ he was giving information on something and it went sour."

Draco nodded. Hermione studied his expression. She wondered if she should stop talking or carry on when she remembered that he was the one who asked her to meet up with him so that they could talk. He looked distressed and for a second she thought about hugging him when her limbs suddenly tensed up.

Draco looked up at the stars and the woods ahead of him. He didn't know what to think or to feel. He knew secretly that his father was cowardly and he wouldn't put it past him to hand Voldemort information even without a cruciatus curse, but what could have been so terrible or important that he would go as far as to kidnap – or kill Draco's father?

He felt a cold breeze between Hermione's body and his. She folded her arms and clenched her jacket tight around her. He felt bad for making her go outside when it was that cold. "Well now you've heard everything," he said, "You can go back inside now."

Hermione ignored him and stared into the distance. "Draco would you," she hesitated as he turned to listen, "Would you ever become a Death Eater?" Draco was caught off guard by the question, but he didn't look surprised. He held his gaze on her. He seemed to think she was becoming more beautiful with each second he spent with her. He gave her a small smile and sighed. "Probably," he said without arguing this time, "If it was required of me to save someone's life."

Hermione smiled back now. "That's a very mature thing to say Draco."

Another gust of wind came and blew a strand of Hermione's hair into her face and Draco automatically leaned in to brush it away with his finger when he found himself so close to Hermione's face that he felt her breath on his lips. She inhaled and her eyes grew slightly in astonishment. He was holding his breath now and he could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears when he shocked himself by pushing his lips against Hermione's and kissing her with all his power.

Hermione didn't move, she didn't breathe. She didn't do anything but sit absolutely dead still until Draco pulled back and both of them exhaled. Her eyes were wide and one of her eyebrows was raised. She held her pose and made sure he didn't see any reaction from her at all except for a little shock. Hermione then found one of her frozen hands through the frost and shock and suddenly raised it and smacked Draco's face hard with the back of her hand.

"Ouch! What did you do _that_ for?" he asked, rubbing the side of his face. Hermione wasn't sure why she did it, but it felt like it was the right thing to do. She rapidly got to her feet. "You're _not_ in the right mind to be kissing me Draco Malfoy!" she cried and pointed a finger at him. Draco pursed his lips as he looked down, still rubbing his face. "_I…_" Hermione said, not sure how to carry on, "_I…" _she thought, but then took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "Irefuse to be some sort of harlot who uses you because you're in a state of… of _madness_!" she said and her eyes popped open.

Draco raised an eyebrow at Hermione, "_I'm _the one in a state of madness, am I?" Hermione said nothing and just stood there fuming. Draco stood up and stalked up to her. Realising what he was doing, she walked backwards until she bumped into a tree that stopped her dead in her tracks. Draco leaned his hand on the tree trunk next to her head and looked deep into her eyes, "Think about _that_ next time you come running off in an invisibility cloak just to see me."

Hermione glared at him, she felt horribly ashamed. Then she shoved him away with as much force as she could manage and grabbed the cloak she had dropped earlier off the ground. "Good riddance Malfoy!" she hissed, threw the cloak over herself and made her way back to the castle with tears streaming down her face.

- I know I've been humiliated like that by a guy in school and it sucked! Tell me your stories on the review page and give me ideas on how to carry on if you got any? AND REVIEW! Thanks :) -


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 8

Over the next two weeks Hermione had been in the worst mood anyone had ever seen her in. When Ron asked if he could borrow her quill in Potions class one morning she screamed at him at the top of her lungs, she lost it and started crying when Neville Longbottom asked her to pass the salt at the lunch table one day and another time she transfigured Pansy Parkinson's cloak into a bunch of helium-filled balloons when Ron told her it had been Pansy who put the Stupify curse on her the day in Care of Magical Creatures, making Pansy fly deep into the sky till she was stuck on one of the castle's windowsills.

"That's it!" Ginny said and slammed shut her textbook for Muggle Studies when she and Hermione were sitting at a table in the common room one afternoon. She had just asked Hermione if she was going to spend the summer at the Weasley' house and Hermione gave a non-committal grunt before she mumbled something about rather rotting alone at home. "What?" Hermione said. Ginny rolled her eyes, "All the boys are too scared to ask what's going on with you, but I refuse to tip-toe around you anymore. Now answer me – what's going on?" Hermione was shocked at Ginny's sudden attitude and put her quill back in the pot and closed her Charms assignment. She looked around. Harry and Ron had gone to play Gobstones in one of the courtyards and Fred and George had detention with Professor Snape. She and Ginny were alone except for Seamus Finnigan and Colin Creevey who were playing chess on the opposite end of the room, two first year girls doing homework by the fire and another third year boy sleeping on one of the couches with his mouth hanging open.

She turned back to Ginny and heaved a sigh, "OK, I'll tell you, but you have to swear on your life you won't tell anyone." Ginny glared at her. "On your _life_ Ginny Weasley!"

"Alright! Ginny said, "Besides, I know it has to do with Malfoy, you just have to tell me why you're so glum lately. Did you break up or something?"

Hermione gasped, "What? No! Anyway how did you know about Malfoy?" she whispered. Ginny pursed her lips, "The day you went to hospital after the Stupify accident. Malfoy asked me where you were. I was quite surprised at how…_worried_ he looked."

Hermione shrugged, "Yea well, I thought he was a good guy, but yeah, he's still a Malfoy." Ginny leaned forward and grinned, "Do tell."

"There's nothing to tell Ginny! We were stuck in a room for ages together. People naturally get… feelings….if you can call it that… for one another. Mixed, misguided emotions form and you end up making a total idiot of yourself when he tries to kiss you." Ginny sat up straight and her eyes widened. "Wow," she said and frowned. "What?" Hermione asked, close to tears. "Um, nothing."

"Ginny what is it?"

"No, nothing. I just thought that you've been beating yourself up because _you_ probably tried to make the first move and _he_ was a prick about it – not the other way around."

Hermione's eyes widened, "I was not a prick about it! Ginny, it's Draco Malfoy."

Ginny nodded, "Yes, yes I know that, but Hermione, you and I both know you've always fancied him."

"Excuse me? You and I both know? Really now?"

"Well yeah… remember when you punched him in the third year? First you boasted about it, and then you kept wondering if he's alright for ages. Then there was that time at the Yule Ball, remember how you told me how he nearly tripped over his own feet when he saw you? And that ti-"

"Alright I get it!" Hermione said, looking around to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation, but nobody was. "Ginny it might have seemed that way to you, but it wasn't like that, honestly. Anyway I couldn't let anything happen. Not only will all of you hate me forever, his father will disown him for being with someone from a muggle family. _If _he's still alive."

"Why?" Ginny asked, biting her nails in anticipation, "Why wouldn't he be?"

Hermione sat up straight, realizing her mistake. "Oh, I wasn't supposed to say that. Drop it. Pretend I didn't say anything."

Ginny sat back in her chair and bit her lip, "There's more to this story, isn't there?"

Hermione picked up her books and stood up. "You gave your word not to tell a soul," she reminded Ginny, "Keep your promise and I'll tell you the rest."

Two weeks had passed and Draco hadn't heard a word from Dumbledore about his father. He started to get edgy.

After supper that night Draco decided to take a walk to Dumbledore's office. On his way there he saw Hermione on a random bench in one of the hallways. She barely ever attended any meal and he realized long ago it was in fear of being judged by him.

The only time he ever saw her was when they had no choice but to share a class together.

She sat with a textbook plastered to her face, barely taking notice of anyone who walked past. Draco felt it was wrong to just walk past her again like he had so many other times before. She looked thin and gaunt, the same he had the day she offered him someone to talk to. "Um, Granger?" he said and she seemed to stiffen in her seat, holding her gaze on a specific part of the book and her eyes widened just a little bit and he knew she heard him. "Can I have a word with you?"

Hermione didn't say anything and she didn't move an inch. Draco heaved a sigh and sat down next to her. "Look, I'm not going to be mushy about it. I'm sorry, alright? Take it or leave it." His words weren't friendly but his tone was soft and apologetic. Hermione sucked in her lips and closed the book. She flicked her hair back as if she was preparing herself before she eventually looked at Draco.

"Have you heard anything about your father?" she finally said and opened her textbook again. Draco realized this was her way of forgiving him. He shook his head, "I'm on my way to ask Dumbledore about it now actually." Hermione nodded and carried on reading her text book. There was an awkward silence between them when Draco rubbed his chin once and was about to get up. "I did some research in the library," she said and Draco turned to look at her, "Sometimes when the ministry's looking for criminals they send out a special type of owl to deliver a letter to them to see if they can track the criminals down," Hermione read his expression and carried on, "You see it's a tracker owl. It's called a Xenoglaux – _extremely _rare owl and I think there are only about 1000 of them in the world. The ministry only uses them in extreme cases because they're so uncommon and there've been too many cases where the birds get distracted and never return. It's a long shot, but it's the only thing I could find that would help you find out where your father is." Draco thought for a while before he spoke, "So the ministry obviously has a couple hidden." "Yes, obviously. Maybe just a few though and they'll be under strict supervision."

After a long pause Draco looked at her again. "Why are you telling me this?"

Hermione shrugged and looked at the binding of the book, "I just thought you should know." Draco pulled his face into a small smile until she looked up again.

"Let me see if I understand you fully," he said and lowered his voice, "The only way to find out if my father is still alive is to break into the Ministry of Magic and steal a tracker bird that might not even return to let me know if he's alive or not?"

Hermione nodded, "So far that's your only option."

Draco ran his fingers through his white-blonde hair while he thought it through. "Alright," he said, "I'll work out a plan. When do we go?"

Hermione laughed, "Sorry?" Draco frowned, "What?"

"When do _we_ go? Last I checked _we_ can't even be seen in public together." Hermione stood up, putting her book underneath her arm. "Which brings me to my next point," she said, slinging her bag of books around her other shoulder, "Your friends are on their way." She pointed to the east side of the corridor where Blaise Zabbini, Crabbe and Goyle were walking towards them in deep conversation and she walked away.

Draco sat there stunned and totally confused over what Hermione had just done. "Am I seeing things or did I just see you having a conversation with Hermione Granger _not_ involving calling her "mudblood" or insulting her in any way?" Blaise asked, laughing darkly. "Don't be ridiculous!" Draco hissed and saw Hermione turn to glare at him and shake her head before she stormed away again. _Damn_, he thought and turned back to Blaise. "What is it you wanted?" Blaise raised an eyebrow, "Snape's looking for you." Draco looked in the direction of Dumbledore's office and decided it was best to go back the next day and see him. He nodded and went off to the dungeons to Professor Snape's classroom.

Draco arrived in the mostly deserted Potions classroom where he saw Professor Snape sitting in his long robes at his desk twiddling his thumbs. "Close the door behind you," he said in a stern voice, "I wish to have a word with you privately." Draco did as he was told and went to sit opposite Professor Snape. "So," Snape said and clapped his hands together, "I take it you know that I'm not the type to offer sherry and speak about how well you're doing in school, so when I ask a student to see me after hours, it is usually not a pleasant little visit." Draco shrugged, "I don't know Professor, people change. Or maybe I'm an exception," he joked. Snape suddenly jumped up and rammed both fists hard against his desk. "This is no time to be joking Malfoy!" Draco shrunk back in his chair, "Sorry sir."

Professor Snape then walked around to where Draco was sitting and sat down on the desk beside him and pulled his sleeve up. "You remember Potter's accusations last year?" he growled, shoving the tattoo of the dark mark on his arm close to Draco's face. Draco's eyes widened. The mark was glowing bright green. He stared. "Why's it glowing green, Draco?" Snape asked rhetorically. Draco's eyes flickered to Snape's menacing gaze. He realized there was something wrong with the way Professor Snape looked at him. Suddenly an air of realization hit him. Harry Potter had said that Voldemort would return.

Snape's eyes suddenly turned bright yellow and he grinned baring all his teeth. Draco gripped his wand in his robes and pointed it at Snape. "_Petrificus Totalus!_" he cried, but Snape smacked the curse off with just a flick of his wand which he took out of his pocket so fast that Draco didn't even notice his hand move. Snape was badly possessed and Draco knew it wasn't just anyone or anything possessing him. It was Lord Voldemort himself – and he was going to murder Draco Malfoy.

- Like it? Hate it? LOVE it? Tell me, tell me, tell me! Please review! Oh and by the way part of this story is influenced by Supernatural hehehe! I love that show! Next update will be posted on the 8th of March! -


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 9

Voldemort, now possessing Professor Snape's body, threw a curse at Draco that he dodged by jumping behind one of the classroom chairs. "Tell me where my father is!" he cried. "Or what?" Snape's voice turned demonic in an instant. "You're going to _stupefy_ me?" he laughed coldly and screamed another curse Draco didn't know, which he dodged again. Snape stood up and stalked his way to where Draco was hiding, looking through the corners of his eyes like he couldn't quite see where he was going. "Draco…?" he sang, "Draco don't play. I know you're here somewhere…" his voice then turned to a hiss and he was hissing like he was singing in Parseltongue. Draco crawled his way behind another desk, but Snape had heard him and threw another curse at him. This time Voldemort's curse scraped the sleeve of his robes. "AH!" he cried and Snape's whole body jerked unwillingly towards Draco. Snape marched towards him and Draco pulled out his wand, pointed it at the chandelier above and screamed out a spell. Suddenly the chandelier dropped like a bomb on top of Snape, pinning his body to the floor and millions of little bulbs shattered on the ground.

Draco ran out of the classroom and into a flock of people who were making their way around the castle. "Watch it!" someone cried. Draco had fear leaking from every inch of him. "Voldemort's here!" he cried, but nobody was paying him any attention. He gripped his hair and ran back to where Dumbledore's office was. On the way there he found Hermione next to Ron Weasley. "Hermione!" he said and grabbed hold of her robes when he approached her, "Snape's possessed. Voldemort's possessing him! We need to get out of here, we're in danger!" Hermione pulled her arm out of Draco's grip. "Have you gone absolutely _mental_?" she asked and Ron glared at him. "NO!" Draco said desperately tugging on her robes. "Trust me!"

"Trust you? Trust _you_? Hermione I think he's gone _totally_ loony." Ron said and a second later Draco punched him full-on in the face, making him topple over and land on the floor. Hermione looked horror-struck at Draco, but before she could say anything Professor Snape came rushing down the corridor with his demonic yellow eyes on Draco and Hermione. A bone was protruding through his right leg as he limped fast and everyone stared at the Professor who now resembled more of a zombie than a real person. Draco grabbed Hermione and they ran as fast as they possibly could up the stairs to the painting of the short, balding man. "Russet skin!" Draco cried and the fat man yawned. "_NOW_!" The painting got a huge fright and swung open immediately.

Draco and Hermione jumped in and not a second later they were in the room they knew all too well. Once inside, Draco pushed Hermione down to the ground and covered her mouth so that her rapid breathing couldn't be heard outside. "Shhh…" he said and her breathing turned to whimpering when she heard a girl scream in absolute terror. It was followed by more and more horrible cries. The screaming was so terrible that Draco took his hand off of Hermione's mouth and covered her ears instead. She looked at Draco with fear in her eyes and covered her own mouth tightly, scared to let even the tiniest sound escape. Draco avoided her gaze; he didn't want her to see he was just as scared as she was.

They sat there like that for what felt like hours. In fact Draco was sure he felt a slight change in the temperature while they sat there. Hermione's expression had somewhat calmed down since the screaming stopped and she lay with her head against the portrait hole with her eyes closed. Draco slowly pulled his numb hands off her ears. Hermione opened her eyes. "Do you think he's gone?" her voice was croaky. Draco shook his head, and got up. The room looked just like they'd left it. It was cluttered and still looked like an empty Potions classroom. He walked over to the window and then looked over at the closet that had led them to find Dobby in a little cottage a few weeks prior. "We have to find a way out of here. Clearly Voldemort knows about that way," he nodded towards the closet. Hermione bit her lip and got up. "What we need," she said and got to her feet, "is an owl." She pulled her wand out of her robes and pointed it at a dusty old book on one of the desks, "_Avifors_" she said and the book turned into a moderately sized barn owl. Draco's mouth fell open. "Why didn't you think about that last time we were stuck here?" Hermione rolled her eyes, "I didn't know about it last time," she said, "But this time I came prepared. I've studied '_Stuck in a Stupid Room' _in the library. For, you know, just in case." Draco shook his head and grinned at her. "Hermione you're a genius!" he said and turned to the owl. Hermione flushed bright red.

"He's only temporary," she said "So we need to send a letter to Sirius, he's the only one that can help us." Draco snapped a gaze at Hermione. "Sirius Black? From Azkaban?" Hermione nodded, like it was the most obvious option they had and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. She started scribbling;

_Sirius,_

_Things are really bad at Hogwarts. Snape's been possessed by Voldemort. I don't know who's alive, I'm hiding out._

_The owl's temporary, send a different one. Please come save us. We're in a secret room next to the Griffindor common room. I'll tell you everything when I see you._

_Hermione_

Hermione tied the note to the temporary owl's leg and set it off out the window that wasn't locked by magic anymore. She turned and looked at Draco. He looked worried and she realised she must have looked it too. "Let's get something to drink, I'm parched," she said and walked past him, gliding her hand along his arm as she did. The moon was setting over the window and a pale glow glittered onto his face and body. She stopped in her tracks and looked at the way he was built. He was tall and lean with a strong tone to his arms, legs and torso that she could see even through his robes. It took a few second before she realised he was looking at her staring at him.

She blushed again and turned, when she felt his warm hand caress her elbow, edging her back. She looked back up at him. His face was serious, but he was pleading cautiously for her to let him do something. She gazed into his face and he pulled her closer by her elbow. He held her there and came closer with his face to her lips but she stood still. The chemistry between them was undeniable, but Hermione was stubborn – or at least her body was – and it only made Draco want her more.

Hermione could smell the sweat from his body, she could hear his pulse racing just inches away, and she could feel the tickling his breath made against her skin and then… Draco leaned into the nape of her neck and there he kissed her so lightly it could have been imaginary, but Hermione's senses were on high alert and she knew it was real. Draco looked into her eyes for a reaction and he must've liked what he saw because he let got of her elbow and tickled the nape of her neck with his fingertips. Hermione was still too numb to move, but she closed her eyes. She decided if she just stood still and closed her eyes she couldn't mess up the moment. Draco leaned in again and Hermione felt her heart beat faster and faster. When his lips met her neck once again there was no denying that he was really kissing her this time. He held his lips there for a few seconds, and then as he moved back he caressed her neck with the back of his hand.

Draco then ran his fingers through her hair and toyed with a strand before she slowly opened her eyes. She looked into his and she realised she'd never seen Draco Malfoy with so much compassion for anyone. She suddenly found the courage to move her feet and moved backwards. Draco frowned. Hermione let a small smile escape her lips and she untied her robes. Draco smiled back. Hermione let the robes fall so that she was only in her school uniform and she leaned on her palms behind her back on one of the desks. Draco bit his lip and walked slowly towards her. He gripped her waist suddenly with his one arm and her hair in the other and Hermione gasped but she was still smiling. Draco didn't realise she had it in her to smile so deviously.

Draco cocked his head and pulled Hermione closer to him and slowly their lips met. Hermione felt fireworks as they kissed. Draco thought her lips tasted like strawberry and he was sure she wasn't the type of girl to wear flavour-tasting lipgloss.

It was better than a long-awaited Christmas present or anything either of them had ever experienced. Draco started kissing Hermione on her jaw, her cheek and down her neck again and before they knew it, they had gone from enemies, to friends to lovers in the craziest couple of months either of them had ever had.

- And POP goes Hermione's cherry XD hehehe! OK so I think I have a vague idea of where the story is going but ALL ideas are welcome. Oh and review review review! Oh and tell all your friends to read and review too ;) next chapter will be posted on March 12th-


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 10

Both Draco and Hermione were woken up the next morning by the sun shining directly in their faces. Draco had been lying on the portrait hole with his shirt off and his trousers skew and Hermione was cuddled up to his chest with her school dress and hair dishevelled. Hermione looked up at the sun and quickly wiped a line of drool off her mouth, making sure Draco didn't see her. Luckily he hadn't, he was too busy noticing the shadow of a bird's wing that was flapping in front of the sun. Hermione fixed her hair and rushed to the window. She'd been hoping to find an owl, but what she did find was much, much better. Draco went to stand by her.

"Sirius!" she cried in excitement and waved her arms. It was Sirius Black riding the hippogriff Buckbeak he'd escaped on a year and a half ago when he escaped from Azkaban, the wizard prison, and then from the ministry who'd have him dead or alive. Or so Draco thought. "Ssshh!" he said and grabbed hold of Hermione's arms, "Are you sure this is such a good idea? He's a murderer." Hermione waved his words away and jumped up and down by the window again so Sirius could see her. "Sirius is the good guy Draco, Pettigrew is still alive." Draco wasn't sure why he felt the way he did, but the way Hermione said this was as if it was obvious and she couldn't understand why he was missing the point and it made him relax.

Sirius moved with Buckbeak to the window. "Hermione! Hermione, I'm so glad you're safe!" he boasted and looked at Draco. It took only one glimpse to see he was the Malfoy boy. It wasn't hard either with his white-blonde hair and pointy face, Draco knew he looked just like a younger version of his father, but to his amazement Sirius didn't shun him from the glance. He nodded and introduced himself like a gentleman. Draco realised he too should have thought before he made accusations. "What about Harry and Ron?" Sirius asked. Hermione's face dropped. "Sirius, I-" Sirius's face had a sudden look of terror upon it. "I don't know if they're alright." she finished. Sirius swallowed hard. "Very well then," he said. He told them to jump on Buckbeak's back and he went to drop them on a hilltop near Hogsmead Village. He told them he'd be back for them before sunset and they should meet him in the same spot. He was going up to find Harry and the rest.

When he left them Hermione sat down on the soft grass and made herself comfortable looking up at the sky. Draco gave her a look of surprise. "What is it?" she said when she noticed him. Draco offered her his arm and pulled her up. "I'm not letting you sit on grass all day when I could be spoiling you." Hermione gave a weak laugh, "Don't be insane. I don't want to be spoilt. I don't deserve it." Draco put an arm around her shoulders and walked down the hilltop with her. "Look," he said, "I'm not the type of guy to tell you everything's going to be alright when it's not. I'm not the kind of guy to shower you with flowers until you're allergic to pollen and I'm not the type of guy you're taking home to 'Muggle Mommy' anytime soon," Hermione shot him a dirty look, "But I'm the guy who picks you up when your face is swollen from crying, takes you to Merline's to get some decent clothes for a couple of days and gets you some hot cocoa beer to make you feel better and just maybe throw in a train ticket or two for the journey we're going to encounter to find my father." Hermione stopped walking and looked at Draco, his arm was still wrapped around her shoulders. She didn't know what to say, so she carried on walking. She realised that subconsciously she knew that that had been the plan all along, even in her mind it was the right thing and only thing left to do so there was no point in arguing.

That afternoon Draco did as he promised. Hermione got new clothes that she tried to argue her way out of, but instead of the lavish outfits from Merlene's Draco wanted her to get, they worked on a compromise and she got 2 pairs of jeans and a couple of plain shirts from a casual muggle gear shop at the opposite end of Hogsmead and they ended up in a cosy little diner that smelt of warm butternut soup where they had their hot cocoa beer. It reminded Hermione of white hot chocolate her mother used to make when she came home from her first years in Muggle School when it was really cold.

"So what's the plan of action?" she asked, warming her hands over the steam of the cup. Draco looked around; making sure nobody was listening in before he moved closer. "We need some sort of lead," he said, "Where do you think we'll find Dobby?" Hermione got a fright when she heard a sudden _crack_ and next to her stood the house elf with the pointy ears and massive eyes. "Um," she said and looked back at Draco. "You called Master Draco?" he said looking expectantly at looked sideways at Hermione, totally confused. "You saved his life; obviously he's going to be nice to you." Dobby nodded his head ferociously, "Dobby is eternally grateful to both Master Draco and Miss Hermione and will do _anything_ to repay Master Draco and Miss Hermione." Hermione smiled, Draco frowned, "Anything?" Dobby gulped. "Anything but to jump in the lake and stay there for ten minutes like Master Draco ordered when Master Draco was seven years old." Dobby's voice was shaky and he moved closer to Hermione, who was now glaring at Draco. "You _did_ that?" Draco shrugged, "I was a kid, it was funny at the time."

"Oh never mind," Hermione said and pulled a chair out from next to her. "Come sit down Dobby, we want to discuss something with you." Dobby's eyes widened, but he did as he was told. "Thank you Miss Hermione, Dobby has never known such a kindness." Draco rolled his eyes and Hermione ordered a mug of butter beer for Dobby. The waitress handed over a small mug to Dobby. "Now don't drink it all in one go, we need you sober for this conversation, I know what butter beer does to house elves." Hermione said and Dobby took his first sip. Draco cleared his throat and folded his arms. "Dobby we need to know how you got in that room and how long you were there for." Dobby took another sip, this time he drank a bit longer, thinking as he drank. Hermione sighed, she wondered if a drunk house elf knew how to disapperate home.

He finally put the glass down and looked at Draco, "It was _him_," he said softly, looking around to see if anyone was listening in before he carried on, "The _Dark Lord_. It was him in a big black coat. Dobby was called to Master Lucius's office at the Ministry of Magic. Master Lucius looked scared, looked terrified. He asked of Dobby to send him… somewhere." He looked at Hermione and pulled a straining face. "He asked you not to say?" she asked. Dobby nodded. "Go on."

"But as Dobby disapperated, Master Lucius was gone. _He _had taken him and was far too quick for Dobby." Dobby sank into his mug and took another long sip. "When Dobby arrived at the…_place_," he wiped his mouth, "Death Eaters were waiting there for Dobby. They bound and gagged Dobby and next thing Dobby remembers is Miss Hermione and Master Draco saving Dobby." He drank the last little bit of butter beer in his mug and sighed when he saw the disappointed look on both Hermione and Draco's faces. "Dobby is truly sorry he is telling Miss and Master useless information."

_BANG!_

They jumped from their seats. The bang was so loud it was deafening. Draco rushed to the window and looked around. People were running and screaming; "THE DARK LORD IS COMING!" Draco looked up and there high in the sky the dark mark glowed down on them and before he turned to Hermione he saw three hooded figures burst into the diner and point their wands at them. Dobby jumped from the chair and quickly grabbed hold of both their legs and before Draco knew what was happening he was standing beside the dining room table in the Malfoy Manor's dining room. "Dobby we can't be here!" He said in a loud whisper, but it was too late. When Draco, Hermione and Dobby looked up Professor Snape's lifeless corpse hung from the ceiling with a rope tied around his neck, his dead eyes open and staring at them. Hermione screamed.

Then a cold voice whispered in her ear; "Don't you wish you'd changed your mind the morning you went jogging?"

- Next and FINAL chapter to be posted tomorrow! Review :) -


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N** As my second Dramoine full story, I hope you guys enjoy it PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the plot and some characters

Chapter 11

Nothing could have prepared Hermione for what happened next. Before she could gather what was happening her breath was knocked out of her and she was magically slammed against the wall and pinned there.

Before them stood the shapeshifter Tatyana with her long brown hair in a chaotic mess, her long black dress torn in several places and her eyes were yellow and wild. She stood in a crouch as if she was about to spring on Draco at any second as she held her wand focussed on Hermione. Dobby stood frozen on one spot, staring at the beautiful feral woman. She laughed and suddenly Hermione was reminded of Bellatrix Lestrange. "I see you brought us a mudblood Draco…" the voice that escaped Tatyana's lips was not hers, it was a deep demonic voice that could only belong to one other, "Good… Your father will be so proud that you'd been frolicking with dirty-blooded women." She said and twisted the arm that was holding the wand, making Hermione scream loud in pain. "Leave her alone!" he yelled, making Tatyana drop her wand and glare at Draco. Hermione fell from the wall and passed out on the floor. "My, my, my, Draco Malfoy," Voldemort's voice was becoming more and more prominent, "Are we – do I dare even say it? – _falling_ in love with a mudblood?" As Tatyana bent down to pick the wand up again, several things happened. Draco called out "Petrificus Totalus" paralyzing her, he ran to pick Hermione up and Dobby woke up, as if from a deep sleep and grabbed the wand away from Tatyana's grip, but before he could escape Tatyana grabbed one of his scrawny legs and he tripped and fell on his face.

"Accio wand!" Draco cried and before Tatyana could grip it, the wand flung into Draco's free hand. Hermione lay lifeless over his shoulder. Voldemort's cold voice started laughing as he gripped Dobby in his hands. "I don't need a wand to kill a simple house elf," he said and a second later he snapped Dobby's neck. "DOBBY!" Draco cried, his eyes wide with horror. Voldemort laughed again as he got up. "Next," he said, all amusement vanished from his voice now, "it'll be your girlfriend if you don't listen to me." Draco let down his guard and glared up at Voldemort who possessed the beautiful Russian shapeshifter's body.

"Your father had my journal, I entrusted my soul – quite literally – to him in that journal only to have it destroyed by Harry Potter! Now you know what a Horcrux is Draco?" Draco continued glaring; he didn't know what that was regardless. Voldemort rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't, you're only a child. A horcrux, my dear boy, is a form of dark magic that allows you to trap your soul into objects. I, being the genius that I am, have split my soul into seven pieces… which means that _I can't die_." Draco now looked at Voldemort with a horror-struck expression on his face. "Now," said Voldemort, with a smug look on Tatyana's face, "Since your _pathetic_ excuse for a Death Eater father is much too old and totally doomed to failure to be of any use to me, I need one thing from you Draco…just one… and your pitiful girlfriend and your sad father may live."

Draco stared at Voldemort, he felt all the colour leave his face as the reality sunk in that he could never kill him. Tatyana's body walked over to Draco, giving him a smug smile on the way. She rubbed a hand in his hair and tugged at it suddenly. Voldemort's voice was a daunting whisper in his ear;

"Be my seventh horcrux and all shall live…"

Hermione thought she was dreaming when she woke up one morning in a room with lime green bedsheets and black curtains. The room was twice the size of her small room at her parents' house and apart from her wand that lay on the bedside table next to her, she didn't recognise a thing. The sun shone dimly through the curtains and she slowly got up, realising that she'd been sleeping with the clothes she'd been wearing the previous day. She shook her head and slowly the events of the day before came back to her. Voldemort! She remembered. Oh my god! He had Draco! She suddenly rushed out and realised she had never been so confused. Where was she? She didn't recognise anything.

The house looked like a palace. Everything was absolutely breathtaking and big. That was when she knew it was the Malfoy Manor and she had just been in Draco's room. "Hermione." Someone from downstairs called. She froze. It wasn't Draco's voice. Was it Voldemort? "Hermione please come downstairs." She frowned to herself, would a dark wizard say please? "Don't be ridiculous." she reprimanded herself in a whisper and made her way to the stairs. She tried to see who was calling her but she couldn't. Warily she made her way down the stairs and into an entry hall that was nearly the size of Hermione's parents' house. Then she saw the owner of the voice, but she wasn't sure if it was really him speaking to her, although he was the only person in sight.

Lucius Malfoy stood in the entry hall staring at her with eyes red and swollen. He looked down at the ground as if he was struggling to comprehend what was going on. "Lucius?" she said. He looked at her, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened them. "Where's Draco?" she asked. She could have sworn at that second a tear ran down his cheek, but he looked away quickly. "Draco," he said in a false proud-voice that caused his voice to break slightly, "Has done a brave thing last night." Hermione frowned and folded her arms. She didn't like the sound of that, not from Lucius Malfoy anyway. "He gave himself as a vessel to the Dark Lord." Hermione's mouth dropped. "And you _let him_?" Lucius sighed. "Firstly I don't believe a little rat of existence like you should understand and secondly it was needed of him." Hermione felt the rage rushing through her veins and she felt she could use an Unforgivable Curse on him right there. "He is your son Lucius! How could you allow Voldemort to take his body?" Lucius swallowed hard and his hallow eyes glared at Hermione. "We will be rewarded in the end." "Ha! Like hell you will." Lucius kept staring blankly at her. Hermione shook her head, "Where were you all this time?" "I can't be sure," he said, "But it felt like everyone describes Azkaban, but it was necessary for me to come to my senses and give up my son to be the Dark Lord's seventh horcrux. It was my fault he didn't have one after all." Hermione remembered the diary suddenly, but she didn't know what a horcrux was and she knew Lucius wasn't going to explain. Her eyes started to swell up, "Why didn't he just use me instead? Why didn't he try and kill me at all? I was out cold most of the time anyway wasn't I?" Lucius laughed, "My dear girl, you don't think the Dark Lord would use something so impure to keep his horcrux safe now, would you?" Hermione rolled her eyes which were threatening to overflow at any second. "And besides," said Lucius, "It was Draco's last wish for the Dark Lord to spare you…and me and his mother."

It then occurred to Hermione that Lucius was only speaking proudly of what Draco had done out of paranoia of Voldemort hearing him as another tear ran down his cheek. He didn't try to hide it this time, but he kept a straight face. Hermione felt an air of hopelessness she had never felt before. Lucius was using Draco's body and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. She glared at Lucius and opened the front door. She walked out, looked up at the clear blue sky and knew that one day she would be able to save Draco from the fate that had been bestowed upon him. Or she hoped anyway. She died a little inside at that moment as she never even got a chance to let him know how much she loved him.

Was it really the end?

- Not the most cheerful of endings, but that's it. I might be writing a sequel in the near future, depending on how many reviews I get on this one. So if you wanna know what happens next, let me know! REVIEW PLEASE :) xoxoxox EphesusX -


End file.
